| Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. | Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. |
| Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. | Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. |
| But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. | But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. |
| For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good. | For the customs of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan; people deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good. |
| John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” | In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” |
| If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married. | When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty. He shall be free at home one year, to be happy with the wife whom he has married. |
| Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. | Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. |
| But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles. | To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles. |
| Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. | Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. |
| I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass. | I, I am he who comforts you; why then are you afraid of a mere mortal who must die, a human being who fades like grass? |
| My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. | You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. |
| Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. | My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. |
| And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. | Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. |
| Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. | You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. |
| ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ | You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. |
| So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. | So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. |
| Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. | But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. |
| The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” | The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” |
| Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. | Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath. |
| We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. | We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. |
| In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. | Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. |
| Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. | Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. |
| But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” | Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” |
| Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. | You shall not make gods of silver alongside me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. |
| Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid. | Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but those who hate to be rebuked are stupid. |
Bible verse of the day
Fear of man will prove to be a snare,but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.